"I’m sure your parents will be very pleased to know they’re spending a small fortune on sending you here, only for you fellas not to even understand why you’re doing something as blatantly unacceptable as bullying another kid. I was of the understanding that Xavier College had a nil tolerance for bullying policy in place? At least that was the case when I gave a talk about it here last year. Has something changed?”
Just as I expected, a number of sick looks came over faces at the mention of parents and nil tolerance for bullying. No kid that went to a school like this wanted their parents being called in.
There were a number of “no’s”.
“Then I can only assume a moment of madness descended and you will all go over and apologise to him and you won’t do it again. You’ll also make sure no one else does. You boys hearing me?” The last bit came out as a bark and one by one they filed over and mumbled apologies to Isaac who was half clinging to Arianne now.
“Just to be crystal clear fellas. If I hear you’ve been hassling this kid or any other, I won’t hesitate to take it up with your principal. This is your first and last warning. I’ve got a brilliant memory for faces. Remember that, or I will make sure your lives suddenly become miserable.”
They took off faster than a pack of startled gazelles.
Caleb and Justin remained a short distance from Isaac and Arianne. “Thanks guys for sticking up for my little mate Isaac here. Well done. I’m proud of you. You guys right for a ride home?”
“Yeah my mum’s getting us Sensei; she texted me before to say she was running late,” Justin explained.
“Okay then, stay out of trouble and I’ll see you at Onigashima tomorrow.”
They both nodded half rose their arms to their chest in a show of respect and gave me an OSS.
I nodded back before turning to Arianne and Isaac. “Hey buddy you okay?” I moved over and crouched down in front of him. He was making that whimpering noise that he was making the other day.
“I see you met my students Justin and Caleb. They’re good guys. Did the other kids give you a bit of scare?”
He nodded his head and his eyes dripped with big soulful tears.
“Well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry anymore.”
I moved my look from Isaac to Arianne. “Do you want to take it up with the school?”
Her jaw was set tight. As much as she was trying to comfort Isaac she was also hopping mad that this had happened.
“I think you put the fear of God into them, but I still want to know why the playground was unsupervised while school pick up is still happening.”
“Excellent question. Do you want me to keep Isaac company while you go talk to someone about it?”
Arianne looked torn. I could tell she wanted to go and give the principal a piece of her mind but didn’t want to leave Isaac with me while he was upset.
I brought my attention back to Isaac. “Hey little mate. How do you feel about hanging out with me for a few minutes? Your mum just wants to go and talk to someone real quick?”
Isaac looked at me cautiously for a second then broke away from Arianne and came to stand by me. “Do you want to see the dinosaur picture I drew today? I brought it home to show mum but I guess I can show you as well.”
“You bet. That sounds awesome. Let me see it.” Isaac looked around for his discarded school bag and charged over to get the picture. A moment passed between Arianne and myself. Rather than voice anything, I nodded that she should go and do what she needed to do while I kept Isaac entertained.
She strode off throwing an uneasy glance over her shoulder as she went. Isaac didn’t seem to notice. He was now firmly focused on finding his dinosaur picture.
A few seconds later he returned with a pristine sheet of paper in his hands. Not a dog ear in sight. He settled down beside me and passed it over.
“It’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The first of the apex predators,” he explained, his big blue eyes dancing with excitement.
“You’ve done a great job on this buddy.” And he had, the proportions and shading he’d put into the sketch were excellent for a kid his age.
“I like drawing dinosaurs. I have a whole lot of these at home. I think the Brachiosaurus is still my favourite. He’s a herbivore did you know that?” Before I had time to answer, he was off again. “And was thought to stand between 40 and 50 feet tall. That’s between 12.2 and 15.2 metres. I rounded it to the nearest fraction of ten. My mum says that’s precise enough for most things, but I think I really prefer three decimal places.”
This time I jumped in otherwise there was no chance for me to get a word in. “I’d say your mum is right on this. One decimal place is plenty. How did you get so good at Maths?” I asked.
“I’ve always been really good at Maths, just like my mum. We like to do Maths problems in our heads when we’re driving places. I used to love doing my tables when I was little.” He started to recite his seven times tables in that sing-song voice he had. Only it was more pronounced in this case and I assumed it was due to the tables being set to music for ease of learning. A little like the alphabet song we all learnt as kids.
“Your mum tells me you play chess as well. That’s cool. Chess is a tough game.” Isaac looked at me for a second as if studying me, almost as if to say you can’t be serious.
“Not really, it’s a lot like Math. You just need to figure out the problem and find a logical track through.” Then his attention was back on the page. “I really want to go see Jurassic World. But mum isn’t sure about it. She thinks I’m too young and it will be too scary. They’re only dinosaurs. What’s scary about them?”
I almost opened my mouth to say I’d seen Jurassic World the other day but I checked myself in time. Arianne didn’t need further pester power from Isaac. He was an intense little dude and I could only think it would get even more full on when he had something locked in his mind.
“Would you take me to see Jurassic World? It wouldn’t be scary with you!” Isaac was so focused on talking to me, he missed his mum stopping just behind him. “You made the bad man and the bad boys go away. So the dinosaurs won’t get me if you’re with me. You’ll keep me safe. Mummy too!”
A look of surprise, embarrassment and pain slipped across Arianne’s face. “Okay Isaac. I think you’ve talked Dane’s ears off. Put the picture away in your bag and let’s get going.”
“But you haven’t looked at my picture,” he protested.
“Okay, give me a quick look now and I’ll have a much better study of it later. We’ve got to go.” She took the picture from Isaac. “Oh, I love what you’ve done with the shading around his tummy and back legs. It looks great. So realistic Isaac.”
“I didn’t get the front claws right. I drew them eight times and rubbed them out. Then Mrs Harris said I had to leave it. I’m not happy about that.” His little brow pulled together in annoyance.
“Okay, well you’ll get it with some more practise. Put it in your bag now please, Isaac.” Her tone was firm and flat. Arianne had let the elastic stretch far enough.
Isaac seemed to know he’d pushed his luck as well and trotted off to get his school bag.
“How’d you go?”
She shook her head. “The principal was off at a conference or something. I’ll send him an email later tonight.” I nodded and Arianne kept on going. “I’m sorry Isaac was talking your ear off. He doesn’t have an off switch.”
“Not a problem.” And I meant it. It really wasn’t a problem for me, but I got the feeling Arianne felt she had to apologise for her son’s behaviour.
Isaac returned with his bag and we headed off to my truck. He looked a little confused when we stopped in front of it.
“Where’s our car, Mum?”
“It’s in the repair shop, sweetie.” I opened the front and rear passenger doors on my dual cab truck for them.
“What’s wrong with it?” Arianne took Isaac’s school bag and placed it on the back floor.
“I’m not su
re at the moment, but I think it’s the electricals,” she said.
Isaac turned to me. “Did you know that a car runs on a 12 volt circuit and electricity in our houses are 240 volts?”
“I did. Do you know what charges the battery and keeps the circuit going in a car’s engine?”
He frowned a little. “That’s easy. The alternator and they have an output of 14.8 volts.”
“Isaac, how about you get in the truck?” I could hear the edge of frustration in her voice. He climbed in and Arianne helped him find the strange seatbelt. I pushed the door closed gently when she stepped back.
“Sometimes I just have to be very blunt in order to keep him on task. Don’t be afraid to be a little blunt with him if you need to be. He doesn’t pick up so well on the normal social nuances everyone else does,” she said in a voice that wasn’t more than a whisper. Her words gave me hope that this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw her or Isaac.
“He’s fine. I’ve spent quite a lot of time with kids. They’re all individuals.”
“True but…” I took hold of her arm to help her up into the truck and that seemed to take her words.
Something passed between us.
It felt like more than two friends or acquaintances. I wondered if she felt it, too.
She glanced at me, our eyes almost level and there was a softness in her eyes. Did she feel it too? This woman was really starting to get under my skin in a way that I had no point of reference for.
“Relax, Ari. It’s fine.” I gave her a grin before shutting the door.
Yeah maybe it would be okay.
Chapter 5
Dane
I held up my hand and placed the keys to my truck, on Arianne’s kitchen table. For about the hundredth time I silently asked myself—Why was it so fucking difficult to help this woman? We’d been discussing this for the last five minutes.
I was done.
“Look I don’t need it. My mate Xander will give me a ride home. Plus, there’s always a spare vehicle or two around the garage if I need to lay my hands on one, and I’ve got a dirt bike that’s road registered. I’m fine. You’ve got to pick up Isaac soon and you’ll need to get him to school and around tomorrow.”
“I can’t accept this. You barely know me,” she protested.
It was time to change tacks, being polite hadn’t worked. “So what, you’re going to pack up and bugger off in my truck?” I growled at her. Why couldn’t she just give in graciously?
“No! Of course not,” she shot back almost as if I’d actually accused her of stealing my truck for real.
“Well then, we don’t have a problem. So don’t make it one. I’ve really got to go. I’ve got a class to teach.” I glanced at my watch.
I was late, particularly now I was walking to Onigashima. Arianne’s little house wasn’t far from the dojo if I took the back way and cut through the bottom of the industrial estate. I made my way to Arianne’s front door with her hot on my heels, trying to give me back the keys.
“Here take your truck.”
I shook my head. “Not having this argument again, Ari. I’ve got to bolt…” She tried to slip the keys back into the front pockets of my jeans but I easily dodged her hands.
A big part of my brain thought I was stark raving mad and would have preferred me to be pushing my hips into her hands. She was getting more and more annoyed by the second and all I could think was how cute she looked.
Finally, I copied her move from lunch the other day and kissed my fingertips before pressing them to her mouth.
I couldn’t risk getting any closer to her right now. Because either she’d find a way to give me back those keys—the woman was determined! Or I’d pull her into my arms and kiss her senseless. The need to do that had been building all afternoon, actually it had been since I’d first laid eyes on her.
Before I was tempted further, I leapt from the small raised porch and took off in a bit more than a jog. When I reached the black pavement of the road, I turned around and gave her a grin and a wave.
The look on her face wasn’t what I’d been expecting. I thought I’d be ducking the daggers her eyes would be throwing at me. Instead she looked a little stunned and dreamy. Almost as if she’d been more than happy for me to kiss the living daylights out of her.
I might just have to try that real soon and see what happened.
It felt like something was building between us. If she’d been any other woman I would have already made an obvious move, but right from the start Arianne had sent off a clear vibe that she was all business and all about her son.
Which I totally got and respected.
There were also times when I would catch her looking at me, when she thought I wasn’t paying attention. Those looks told me an awful lot more. Those looks told me she was a woman who was interested in me as a man, even if she wasn’t going to act on it.
Then there was that little problem of what the devil her other job was. Sure it was none of my business, but it didn’t keep me from wondering. The thought of her taking off her clothes and dancing or more for money was enough to make my blood boil.
Maybe it was my overactive imagination? She didn’t seem the type. Wasn’t flashy enough or something. But, that was sure the impression she’d led me to believe from the way she’d expressed her distaste for whatever it was.
I was thinking about that, tossing around other ideas as to what she could possibly be doing as a job, when the unmistakable and blood curdling scream of a woman in trouble rent the air.
The tall sides of the large storm water culvert the locals used to cut through, hindered my field of vision until I came through the end.
Then it was obvious.
A couple of buildings up, three men were trying to drag a woman from the street into their workshop.
I ran harder toward them.
It was clear she wasn’t happy about what they were doing but she seemed more stunned than fighting. But there was no mistaking her wail of fear until it was muffled by a meaty hand covering her mouth.
It wasn’t until I was almost upon them that I knew who they had.
That long curtain of strawberry blonde hair and willowy build was a dead giveaway. Eden Sommers.
Xander’s Eden.
“Shut the fuck up bitch! It doesn’t need to be like this,” the douchebag holding her growled.
“Let her go!” I demanded in my best Sensei voice when I was a few feet from the group. That was enough to startle them and I didn’t hesitate.
I took down the first guy closest to me with a leg kick, which I landed just behind his knee. As he crumpled, I brought my knee up to catch his jaw before sending him to the ground.
His mate, closest to him, looked up in surprise and I added to it, by slamming his jaw with a right hook. He crashed to the ground and it was almost too easy.
It was a good hit.
Strikes were my thing, but he must have been drinking to crumble like that.
I looked around to the arsehole that had Eden. His brow was furrowed but his expression was dancing between fear and bravado.
“Let her go.” My voice tone didn’t hide my anger and it came out sounding very low and almost animalistic.
“No fucker. Finders keepers. She’s ours for the night,” the guy holding her yelled back.
I spoke without even really thinking. “That’s where you’re wrong. She’s one of ours.” Now I was just getting pissed off.
“What the fuck do you mean?” This was from the moron that still held her captive. The belligerence of his tone just pissed me off more.
“That’s Pretty Boy’s woman you’ve got there. You do not want to fuck with him.” And exactly as I thought, bully boy released his hold immediately.
Xander was the closest thing to a living, breathing, fighting celebrity in these parts. They knew his record and exactly what he was capable of. Shit, these fuckers had probably won money on his last fights.
Eden crumpled to the ground, not expe
cting the hold to suddenly be relaxed. This time adrenalin kicked in and she sprang to her feet looking to take off.
“Eden, stop. It’s me…Dane,” I barked before she had a chance to get more than a pace or two. “I’ll take you back to Xander.”
I saw fear, suspicion and a lot of other emotions cross her scarred face but she remained rooted to the ground. Which was all I cared about right now.
One of the guys laying on the ground started to rise. I drew my foot back and kicked him hard in the stomach. His podgy flesh seemed to surround my sneaker clad foot.
“Stay the fuck down. Do not make me put more of a beating on you,” I snarled at the man in disgust. “I’d be keeping a low profile if I were you three. Pretty Boy is not going to be happy about this.”
“Shit man—we didn’t know.” It was the arsehole that had Eden at the end. The desire to rip him limb from limb was high but I still needed to get her back to the dojo.
“Well, now you do. But that’s no excuse. You don’t go attacking women. What the fuck, were you drunken fools thinking?” I was so angry my voice shook with the rage.
My mind jumped backwards and forwards between sending them a message they’d never forget and taking Eden back. I finally settled on words and what was probably a hollow threat. Eden wasn’t looking so hot and I wanted to get her out of here.
“Hell, maybe I should beat the shit out of you three as a reminder. As it is Eden is well within her rights to press charges.”
“We were just going to have some fun, man,” the first guy whined from the ground.
I shook my head in disbelief. Fun! I don’t think Eden saw it as fun, and her screams sure as shit didn’t sound that way.
“I’ll be telling Xander everything that happened. It’ll be up to him what happens. He knows where to find you. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”
The two men on the ground staggered to their feet and joined the third. The three of them slunk back towards the building they’d been in.
“Are you okay, Eden?” I asked her in a tone a lot softer than the one I’d used when speaking to those guys.
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